My Garden is a Mess.

 I bet yours is, too. Don’t lie. It can’t be as bad as mine, but if it is, I’m sorry. 

Don’t worry; your garden is not the only hot mess out there. Don’t you feel better now? No. You will after you read this. 

I take great strides to create functional, organized, eye-catching growing spaces in each place where I grow food.

Seeds, seedlings, and plants are carefully positioned from March to April in my four gardens. In my head, everything is thriving and producing what I intended to be there. Well, that wonderful dream continues in June and July. Then BOOM, August hits like walking into a flipping glass door! Dear lord, what has happened to my pretty gardens? And where the hell did you come from? Didn’t I plant cherry tomatoes? Why am I only getting big, heirloom tomatoes? Crap! No. No. Please, slug family, eat both Napa cabbages. It’s all good (insert eye roll). Pfft, who needs that board that fell off because it ultimately decayed and fell off the raised bed? NOT ME! CRAP!

My gardens are full of flowers hiding peppers, sweet potato vines snaking through any available openings, drooping tomato branches (must-buy tomato cages!), and tapped-out plants. But hey, it’s all right. I harvest vegetables even though my growing spaces are not in the best shape. The lessons I learn this season dictate better planning for each raised bed next year. But gardening is not about perfection. It is about getting outdoors, creating space for pollinators, meeting people, eating non-toxic food, exercising, having core memories with your kids, and so much more. 

 I say embrace your messy garden. But be cognizant of what you can improve next year to make it less messy. If you want to make a mess and it makes you happy, ROCK ON MY FELLOW GARDENER! ROCK ON!